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The Fiscal Wake-up Tour visited the University
of Denver campus October, 2009. The Tour featured a panel of national
experts as they discussed ways to
restore fiscal sanity, solvency, and security to our governmental
system.
Presented by
The Institute for
Public Policy Studies at the
University
of Denver
Sponsored by
The
Concord
Coalition, Washington, D.C.
Featuring
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David Walker |
President, the
Peter G. Peterson Foundation
Former United
States Comptroller General
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Robert Bixby |
Executive Director,
The Concord Coalition |
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Isabel Sawhill |
Director
of the Budgeting for National Priorities Project
Senior Fellow in Economic Studies, the Brooking Institution |
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Brian Riedl |
Grover Hermann Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs, the Heritage Foundation |
Since the New Deal, the United States
has wagered on a vibrant economy and a secure financial future—and
won.
But our triumphs have had a hidden price tag.
Entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare have
befitted millions of people—but now dominate the federal budget.
Our “unfunded liabilities”—truly, chain letters to the
future—now total over $60 trillion. Our economy barely survived last
year’s financial implosion on Wall Street—by printing money and
selling Treasury bonds to foreign competitors—while adding trillions
to the deficit.
The
federal budget has exploded, through stimulus spending and bailouts.
Federal spending vastly exceeds federal revenue, with no end in
sight.
Unemployment is high;
economic growth is slow.
We are in danger of losing our economic vitality as
a nation.
The bills are coming
due.
Who will pay them?
Authentic political leadership and the courage to tell the
fiscal truth are in short supply.
Who will carry the message of accountability, debt and deficit
reduction and fiscal restraint—at a time when the temptation in
Washington is to pile more obligations onto the shoulders of future
generations?
What are the
causes and consequences of our fiscal irresponsibility?
What are the cures?
This is an issue that should concern every
American—Democrat, Republican, or Independent.
Mr. Walker, Director of the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour
and President of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, will present an
intensive analysis of the financial dangers that confront our nation
and outline an action plan that will restore integrity to the American
system of government.
The Fiscal Wake-Up Tour
The
Fiscal Wake-Up Tour’s mission is to cut through the usual partisan
rhetoric and stimulate a more realistic public dialogue on what we
want our nation's future to look like, along with the required
trade-offs. We believe that elected leaders in
Washington know there is a problem, but they
are unlikely to act unless forced to by their constituents. The Tour
began as a series of public forums around the country and now, in
addition to those forums, we are organizing in-depth local committees
to further focus attention on our nation's daunting long-term fiscal
challenges.
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